All it takes is one wayward asteroid and millions of years of evolution and thousands of years of civilization will be gone without a trace. Considering the money that's spent on utterly wasteful things in this world, securing a foothold for the human race outside this rock is a worthy cause. Besides, the benefits of a technological and scientific undertaking of this magnitude will be hard to predict but easy to imagine given history. Think how much longer it could have taken for the transistor to be created without the demand from and support of the space program.

I wonder what the odds are that chinas presence in outer space will prompt a revival of the start wars defence shield or similar programs. A new technology race with a little political will driving it would be great to start off this century.